post-Endor campaigns - what would YOU do?

[GlassJaw]

I did not like The Last Jedi.

Now that that's out of the way...

Without rehashing the movie, I started thinking about what I would do with the Star Wars universe post-Battle of Endor. I even dug out my old Heir to the Empire hardcover (given as a birthday gift in 1991!) and started reading it again. It has its flaws but it feels so much more believable to me.

My gaming group is currently playing D&D 5E but everyone is huge Star Wars fans and open to trying other systems. So the creative juices started flowing...

I have some ideas myself but I'm mainly curious about what other people have done with a post-Endor campaign.

What was the state of the Empire and New Republic?
How did you handle Jedi?
Did you include or reference the iconic characters?
What was the primary motivation for the players?

Thanks!

[Falconer]

I’m thinking about this, too. I think everyone’s TFA theories from the past two years have been super cool, and, running a wide-open post-Endor campaign would be a nifty way of capitalizing on the fact that everyone’s heads have been in that space.

I’m in a bit of a rush, but, a couple of quick thoughts:

Have you read the novel Wraith Squadron (or any/all of the X-Wing series, but that one is especially RPGish)? Running a campaign based on the Thrawn Crisis would be great if the players were totally unfamiliar with it (and, helpfully, sourcebooks exist for it), but, otherwise, the X-Wing series might be a better model. Either way, they show how exciting a straightforward campaign against Imperial Warlords can be.

Also, have you read the The Hand of Thrawn duology? There’s a lot going on, there, some of it not very RPGish, but there’s a quest into the Kathol Outback which draws on the DarkStryder series of RPG products, which seems very imaginative and interesting. Also, there are a lot of intriguing plot threads about future threats emanating from the Unknown Regions. Interestingly, the EU products that followed more or less discarded this direction, but TFA somewhat reestablished it (Snoke is from the Unknown Regions, and the Imperial Remnant is based there). I thought maybe TLJ would see our heroes taking the fight to them there and finding out all kinds of weird mysteries and powerful foes and allies. There is a WotC supplement called The Unknown Regions which might be an interesting starting point for this. Also, if your game is set before or instead of TFA, the Star Killer, which was kind of a lame plot device in TFA, could be transformed into an interesting place for adventure if it were set well before it is “fully operational” in TFA. Imagine after more or less destroying the planet Jedha in R1, if they towed it (the planet Jedha) off into the Unknown Regions and began their work on the Star Killer technology, utilizing the inherently kyber-rich qualities of that planet.

[Mamatried]

Regardless of the last "movies", the canon lore do state that the war was nower in a second, not even after jakku, which was a year roughly after endor.
Even after this, and even operation cinder there were and would be "rogue" imperials, many commanding huge militaries, some still in control of their sectors or systems.

Uprising, the game is one such setting.

[Kytross]

The EU made very little sense after the prequels came out. The history of Star Wars post End or needed a rewrite.

They had over 20 years to play with and in the new canon they ended the war a year after Endor? Poor storytelling choice.

There are Sith Inquisitors out there that need to be dealt with. These were Jedi from the agriculture corps turned to the dark side, so not exactly the best of the best, but still, they need to be dealt with.

Imperial Moffs and Grand Moffs hold the majority of political and military power in the galaxy. There isn't one fleet to defeat, there was never just one fleet to defeat. The death of Palpatine and Vader would decentralize the Empire, creating multiple factions to deal with.

The political ideals of the separatist movement are alive and well. Just because a star system leaves the Empire it doesn't mean they will join the New Republic.

What are the Hutts doing in response to the death of Palpatine? This is a chance to increase their holdings? With the death of Jabba who is coming to the forefront to lead the Hurt Clans?

[Mamatried]

[garhkal]

[Wajeb Deb Kaadeb]

I'd look at the WEG New Republic adventures and supplements, of which there are several, and get creative using them as my source material. Sure, they somewhat follow the original EU, but there's some newly created ideas among that selection as well.

For example, the Darkstrider campaign boxed set has it all: It's post Jedi, includes Jedi lore, and has remnant Imperial Forces.

You could get a year or more of play out of that campaign--possibly more, depending on how often your gaming group meets.

I've skimmed through it a few times. The material is dense. There's so much there that I could make a multi-year campaign out of it. As big as it is, you can grow it, if you want.

I think it's an exciting campaign.

But, it's definitely not the only way to go.







You could even take a pre-Endor mini-campaign, like Operation Elrood, and set it in a different time period.

For example, set the game in Elrood just as the news from Endor is reaching that part of the galaxy.

That could be interesting.







WEG has some interesting non-New Republic adventures to play. Like a smuggler adventure or two. Those could be interesting if you play them immediately after Endor, when the galaxy is still in shock of the Rebel's victory--and there is grave uncertainty in certain parts of the galaxy as the news comes in.







Another idea, if you want to get real creative and go off on your own, is to look through the various materials in WEG's Adventure Journal. These books don't get enough credit as they are incredible resources for a D6 Star Wars game. You could mine it for ideas and go off on your own thoughts for how the story should unfold after Endor.







Finally, I would suggest the Dark Horse Star Wars comics. I've read most of them, and they created some spectacular stories set post-Endor. You could take any of these and develop it into a campaign.

One of my favorites is the Dark Empire story. There is a WEG sorcebook for this Dark Horse series. I just love how the story weaves in the old and adds some new and still feels like the original Star Wars.

There are lots of good stories in the old Marvel Star Wars comics, that you can buy in omnibus form now, that would make for excellent Star Wars campaigns. They provide the story. You provide the D6 stats.

You could follow the Yuuzhan Vong story line from the novels and comics. In this, an alien species from another galaxy invades the Star Wars galaxy. These new aliens are ruthless--kinda of a Conan meets Star Wars. They use organic technology and despise typical non-organic tech. They're an interesting, blood thirsty enemy that can put a new spin on a Star Wars campaign.

Another Dark Horse favorite of mine is a story set in the far, far future. It's 137 years after the Battle of Yavin. This is the time period of Star Wars Legacy, where the Empire has split into two parts, one half run by a Yuuzhan Vong usurper of the Sith, and the other by a Imperial General in charge of what's left of the non-Sith Empire. Those two factions fight amongst each other and against what is left of the New Republic.

This three-way political background sees the story of the last Skywalker, Cade, who is not what you would think. He's a Jedi failure, having left the Academy. Now, he's a bounty hunter, addicted to spice, who has visions of his great ancestor, Luke.

It's fantastic series that would make for an excellent Star Wars campaign.







Lastly, you could go micro instead of macro and focus your campaign on what happens to just a few systems--or a system that is still under the control of the Empire--after Endor or Jakku.

I think the Truce At Bakura hardback could be used for this, or something like Classic Campaigns.



Just some thoughts!

[Mamatried]

Some thoughts that could help you.

We know that the battle of Jakku was roughly 1 year after endor.
Would be reasonable to think that the empire with its uber size would collapse within only a year, even with the forces at jakku these were not all...not thousands of star destroyers alone, let alone the trillions of forces, and millions of smaller ships...

I assume it would be years
doing a mission or campaign where you are trying to save worlds from operation cinder should work.

Or maybe if the force is involved, trying to find answers and jedi and others.
locked down sectors of space still under the control of the moff.......

the timeline here is everything, one thing cool would be a big bad guy not force sensitive but with inqisitor henchmen etc.

[MrNexx]

I really liked the plot of Star Wars: Uprising, where the Anoat Sector (including Hoth, Anoat, and Bespin) was put into lockdown by the reigional governor, preventing people from knowing that Palpatine had died.
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[GlassJaw]

Great stuff everyone! The knowledge base on this site is awesome.

Generally, my thoughts are along the same lines as everyone else's. Primarily that the New Republic is struggling to keep the new government together while remnants of the Empire (mainly in the Outer Rim) are either maintaining their hold on planets or starting to mobilize once again under a leader like Thrawn.

While this is happening, I would imagine that the New Republic is under great pressure to deal with these threats as well as bring aid and resources to planets and regions previously under the grip of the Empire. The Republic would need to mend fences and give people confidence. Frustrations would be high as that aid is slow to arrive. The Republic is simply spread too thin.

When there's a power vacuum, crime spreads. Crime bosses are emboldened and begin to grab power themselves. They buy power and influence by providing aid when the Republic can't. And without the centralized policing of the Empire, there is very little to check their power.

As far as the Jedi go, I generally prefer campaigns without the players as Jedi (just makes things easier and more balanced in my experience). For a campaign, I was thinking of having Luke disappear. This knowledge spreads fairly easily throughout the galaxy and people believe that the Jedi have disappear with him.

This isn't exactly true. In my post-Endor timeline, Luke certainly begins to understand that the balance of the Force means Light and Dark always exist (similar the new trilogy). So Luke decides to take himself out of the equation as much as possible. However, he has additional motives. After defeating Vader and the Emperor, Luke discovers some of their knowledge of the Jedi and Sith and finds a record of an ancient device that can detect
those that are Force-sensitive, even across the galaxy (sort of like Cerebro from the X-Men). Luke sets out to find this device, or if it exists at all...

Not sure if the players would become involved or simply just something in the background for the campaign.

[Kytross]

Snoak is not a reliable narrator

[garhkal]

[Whill]

[Wajeb Deb Kaadeb]

A blood test for midiclorians?

Noooooooooooo!

[Kytross]

Or a good roll on Life Detection